I’m a Rifftrax fan. That said, I really miss the puppets. Everything I say after this is stuff we all know, I think, but since no one else has, I’m gonna say it anyway.
The thing about MST3K is, it’s not just the riffing. The riffing is the main thing, but there were people riffing before MST3K professionally (and we all do it personally, to varying degrees, no?).
Joel’s genius idea of making a framing story takes the riff idea and adds something genuinely new. Pace Roger Corman, MST3K always had something to say, and the “meta” story is a huge part of what makes it so fun—and by the way, tends to make it a lot less mean, provides a break from really hard-to-watch movies, and even gives a way to actually build on the movie’s universe—like who can forget the interviews with “Megaweapon”, “Steve Reeves”, “Michael Feinstein”, “Torgo’s Pizza”, etc.? All this makes the riffs better!
One of the cleverest moments in Starcrash is wedging in Paul & Storm’s Beach Boys parody to break up the long stretch of…nothing…but normally you don’t get the space to do elaborate stuff in the movie itself. And when you do (Hogoblins when Mike replaces himself and the bots with cardboard cutouts), it’s enhanced by the continuation in the framing area.
So many great bits on MST3K have virtually nothing to do with the movie! The Invention Exchanges, Timmy, “Patrick Swayze Christmas”, etc.
I am among those who buy basically everything Mary Jo and Bridget come out with, and I will be there tomorrow for Hobgoblins, but to MST3K fans, a lot of Rifftrax jokes are enhanced by the fact that we know Bill, Mike, Kevin, Mary Jo and Bridget (at least as stage personae). And it’s probably why the other riffs aren’t as popular.
There’s also the homemade and fundamentally goofy nature of the framing device that I think keeps everyone grounded: If you, yourself, are making a cheesy show (la-la-la), it maybe lends a humility to your attitude in riffing someone else’s cheesy show.
Think about it, won’t I?